sb944 wrote:I finally decided to get a Garmin 500 with cadence and HRM package, and Wiggle, Evans and CRC are all within a few dollars of each other, at around $241-$255. Is there any current voucher code for any of these sites to make this a little cheaper?

i thought CRC had it for 248 with free delivery. how do the other compare (once you add delivery?)

sb944 wrote:From what I can see Evans, CRC and Wiggle all do free shipping on a Garmin 500 order, Evans is $241, CRC is $249, Wiggle is $255.

Remember to factor in the PITA factor if you have warrantee issues.

I bought a garmin from Highly Tuned Athletes - failed in the first two weeks (faulty button). Luckily HTA are local, send it Thursday, they got it Friday, sent me back a new one on the same day that I'll receive Monday.

I expect that same process with an O/S store would take at least a couple of weeks because of shipping times, and cost more than the $9.55 express bag I used.

sb944 wrote:From what I can see Evans, CRC and Wiggle all do free shipping on a Garmin 500 order, Evans is $241, CRC is $249, Wiggle is $255.

Remember to factor in the PITA factor if you have warrantee issues.

I bought a garmin from Highly Tuned Athletes - failed in the first two weeks (faulty button). Luckily HTA are local, send it Thursday, they got it Friday, sent me back a new one on the same day that I'll receive Monday.

I expect that same process with an O/S store would take at least a couple of weeks because of shipping times, and cost more than the $9.55 express bag I used.

sb944 wrote:From what I can see Evens, CRC and Wiggle all do free shipping on a Garmin 500 order, Evans is $241, CRC is $249, Wiggle is $255.

Remember to factor in the PITA factor if you have warrantee issues.

I bought a garmin from Highly Tuned Athletes - failed in the first two weeks (faulty button). Luckily HTA are local, send it Thursday, they got it Friday, sent me back a new one on the same day that I'll receive Monday.

I expect that same process with an O/S store would take at least a couple of weeks because of shipping times, and cost more than the $9.55 express bag I used.

Just my 2c!

was my reason for buying locally

I forgot to mention - at $329 for the bundle, $70 extra for peace of mind isn't silly money. HTA often have specials which brings the price back down to $299 - I snagged that price a few weeks back.

jimboss wrote:Remember to factor in the PITA factor if you have warrantee issues.

It's takes just as much effort to send something to the UK as it does to send something to Melbourne.

I'd debate that - UK requires customs dec and is around 2 to 3 times the cost.

You also conveniently ignored my mention of postal speed - you can mail to metro anywhere in Aus next day for under $10 for a 500g satchel. It will cost you $13 plus packing materials to post to the UK with no tracking, 10-14 business days.

On electronic stuff which has a relatively high likelihood (at least compared to mechanical stuff) of turning up DOA or failing within 90 days, you should at least consider buying locally, and factor in that price difference.y

I'm not a die hard 'buy local' guy - I'm simply pragmatic about it. I certainly consider the extra $50 well spent considering my garmin 500 had issues within 14 days. And from the sounds of things, I'm not alone, it's not an isolated issue.

Like I said earlier - Garmin went in the mail 4pm Thursday in Adelaide - arrived in VIC at Highly Tuned Athletes on Friday - Assessed Friday - New Garmin sent back via express post Friday - Expected arrival Monday. You simply could not expect or rely on that level of service from a UK based store.

Can someone explain how they can sell the bike at that price (and how the other cheap Di2 bikes are done - the Azzuri & Jamis for $2200 etc)?

Say they get the frame for $200 (which is possible I guess - single orders for carbon frames on ebay are as low as $350), and wheelset for $100 (can buy Aksiums online for $175), and then another $150 on seat, handlebars, stem, bartape, tyres, pedels etc. That is $450.

The complete Ultegra Di2 groupset is ~$1500 on ebay, so they must be getting it a lot cheaper to be able to make any real profit on this once you take overheads into account.

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